As recently as Friday night, when Julio Urías pitched three innings of relief to secure a Dodgers victory in their series opener in Atlanta, any conversation involving the left-hander involved his possible role in the postseason. Would he be a key piece of the bullpen, or might he be used as a starter?

Saturday afternoon, when the commissioner’s office announced that Urías had “accepted” a 20-game suspension resulting from a violation of the sport’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, that changed. A hot button was pushed – re-pushed, actually – and who knows where this conversation will eventually end up?

As a reminder: This goes back to an incident in May, when Urías was arrested on suspicion of shoving a woman (possibly his girlfriend) to the ground during an argument in a parking structure at the Beverly Center.

He was booked, released on $20,000 bond and subsequently placed on administrative leave by MLB (the five games he missed at that time will be considered part of the suspension already served).

The woman said she fell and was not pushed, though witnesses said they saw a shove. TMZ reported that there was video of the incident, but there were also reports that MLB investigators had been denied access to that video.

Subsequently, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office deferred prosecution, on the conditions that Urías attend a hearing, commit no further acts of violence and participate in a 52-week domestic violence counseling program.

Urías has chosen not to appeal the MLB suspension, and his statement Saturday released by the Players Association included a reference to his own “inappropriate conduct,” and the “proactive steps to help me grow as a person on and off the field, including attending counseling sessions.”

There are some important distinctions here, which were of course occasionally lost in the nuance-free, instant-opinion environment of social media Saturday afternoon. Some Urías defenders claimed charges had been dropped. They weren’t. They were deferred. That verifies that something did happen, but only those who were there know the severity. By accepting the terms of deferral, and more recently by accepting the suspension, Urías acknowledges as much.

But his own statement, presumably carefully crafted with the help of lawyers and/or PR people, sounded like something less than a full apology, although he likely was referring to the choice of accepting the penalty rather than appealing when he said, according to the statement: “It is important to me not to create uncertainty for my teammates as we approach the playoffs. Accepting the suspension is the best path to achieve that goal.”

One response to that, from @erinscafe on Twitter: “Here’s the deal. It wasn’t nothing. And no matter what happened here, the message he’s sending is that the right choice is not to allow domestic violence allegations to become a distraction. He’s sorry he messed up the baseball.”

Here’s the deal.

It wasn’t nothing.

And no matter what happened here, the message he’s sending is that the right choice is to not allow domestic violence allegations to be a distraction.

She is, by the way, a Dodger fan according to her timeline. Another commenter with the handle @abaseballchick added: “MLB sent a message and that message is they don’t take domestic abuse seriously enough.”

MLB sent a message and that message is they don't take domestic abuse seriously enough. @ABC7: #BREAKING Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias accepts 20-game suspension in aftermath of arrest for alleged domestic batteryhttps://t.co/Oivpj1x3MO

These are baseball fans expressing dismay, or at least discomfort. Not all are female, either. Someone with the handle @TheDodgerRon pointed out: “The amount of young men on here defending Julio Urias is disappointing to say the least. When your SO (significant other) wants to leave you don’t impede their path, don’t grab their arm and you don’t shove them to the ground. Perhaps a little counseling will do you some good as well.”

The amount of young men on here defending Julio Urias is disappointing to say the least. When your SO wants to leave you don't impede their path, don't grab their arm and you don't shove them to the ground. Perhaps a little counseling will do you some good as well.

Is it wise to assume that when Urías makes his next appearance at Dodger Stadium – as he will, since the club seems to have no inclination to cut ties with him – that the reception will not be universally kind?

When writing about this situation in May, after the initial arrest, I had a conversation with Melodie Kruspodin, prevention and policy director at Peace Over Violence, an L.A. volunteer organization committed to intervention, prevention education and emergency services for abuse and violence victims.

She talked at the time about the importance of public conversations about domestic violence, and about how those “can make it easier for others to say, ‘Wow, I’m not alone. I’m not the only person that this is happening to.’ We’ve been making some progress in the types of conversations that we have, even with young people and teenagers, about what it means to be in a healthy relationship, what it means to treat your partner with respect, and that’s really been helping us to make some shifts as a community or as a society.”

Is zero tolerance automatically the best approach? Kruspodin talked of how “as long as (individuals) can take accountability, recognize the mistakes that they make and really work to try and change their behavior, you know, then we need to be willing or open to perhaps looking at forgiveness.”

That’s fair. But that forgiveness should go with (a) a full, public display of accountability, not just lip service, and (b) a public commitment to support victims and survivors of domestic violence and the agencies that serve them, as well as public service announcements – by the individual and the organization – to educate others.

Those next steps are up to Urías and the Dodgers. We await their response.

Jim Alexander is an Inland Empire native who started with his hometown newspaper, The Press-Enterprise, longer ago than he cares to admit. He's been a sports columnist off and on since 1992, and a full-time columnist since 2010. Yes, he's opinionated, but no, that's not the only club in his bag. He's covered every major league and major sports beat in Southern California over the years, so not much surprises him any more. (And he and Justin Turner have this in common: Both attended Cal State Fullerton. Jim has no plans to replicate Turner's beard.)

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